Latch for foot-levers.



C. W. MORDEN.

LATCH Fon Foo Levens.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.27| 1914.

l Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

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LATCH FOR FOOT LEVERS.

APPLICATION FILED Aue.21. I9I4.

Patented Apr. 11 1916.

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UNUIED erfenis PATENT ermee.

CHARLES W. MORDEN, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

LATCH FOR FOOT-LEVERS.

'Application tiled August 27, 1914.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES XV. MORDEN, a citizen of thevUnited States, and a resident of the city of Portland, county of lllultnomah, State of Oregon, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Latches for Foot-Levers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention. relates to the foot pedals provided on automobiles, for example, and has for its purpose to provide means whereby the foot pedal may be temporarily locked in place after having been operated.

I have illustrated the utility of my invention as applied to the pedal or foot lever of speed changing mechanisms ot' the Ford automobile, and said pedal, when it is moved into its forward position, and so held, causes the low speed gears to operate; and it. will be .seen my invention, in a general way, consists in combining with the spring controlled foot lever a latch, preferably pivoted in place, adapted for being engaged with said foot lever, and the latch being so arranged as to be operable by the foot operating said foot lever, and means adapted to normallyr hold said latch out of the path of motion ot' said foot lever.

'lhe details of my invention are hereinafter fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a section of the dashboard 'ofv a. Ford automobile, and shows a Shaft of.' the Speed changing mechanism and a foot lever or pedal mounted on such shaft and held in its normal position by a spring, and my invention is shown as applied for holding the. foot lever in .ita forward position in which it isshown in dotted outline; Fig. l is a front elevation olf the parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. l is a detail of the bracket fastened to the dash-board of the automobile and on which bracket my latch is pivotally supported; Fig. 4 is a detail of the latch; Figs. t3 and 7 are details` of coninto my latch when all the parts a re assembled, as shown in the 9 shows a dill'crent type of latch which may be Substituted in place of the latch shown in Fig. 4, where it is desired to provide mea is for holding the pedal in two positionf ir stead of only one position.

u. represents the foot-board mobile` l the dash-board.v and l.' the slot in which the foot. lever or pedalt fl, mounted Specification of Letters Patent.

of an auto- Patented Apr. 11, 1916.

serial No. 655,964.. l

on the. shaft, e, of the speed changing mechanism operates, said pedal, d, being,r controlled and held in its normal position by the spring f.

g/ is a part of the steering post. base y of the steering post is mounted the bracket part la of my latch. detail of this part is shown in 3. ltiS made with slots i, through which the steeringpost, base-bolts j are inserted. The .sole z' of the 4bracket haa a slot, J. The pivot bolt, Z, is made with a head and square shank so that it may be longitudinally moved in the slot of the sole 11.', but cannot rot-ate therein. Over the bolt is placed a sleeve m which serves as a spacing member. On the sleeve is rotatably mounted the latch n. (her the sleeve m. and on the pivot bolt l is placed ay cap o, secured in place by a nut '/1 seated on a washer [1'. 'the latch -n is made with perforation a, and the cap o is made with series of perforations 0. A top viezv an` a aienof the under side ot the cap o is ahowu in Figs. t3 and 7. Said perforations reecixe V.the ends of a coil On the spring q. shown in plan and side elevations 1u Fig. 5, 'the spring j is so arranged as to cause the lug /L` of the latch n, which projects through the aperture o`' of the cap o, to be held against the stop 'r of lthe cap o, thereby so positioning the latch n as to clear the path ol' motion of the pedal or foot lever As evident, by shifting the end of the spring q, engaged with one of the holes o o-tl the cap o, from one to the other of said series ot holes o', the spring tension may be adjusted as desired.

m. represents a felt oil-pad to keep lubricanton the pivot member.

As shown in Fig. l, the latch has a shortmember '/i and a long member .11.4. The Short member u is provided with an inwardly projecting hook I and the long mem ber n is provided with a heel plate r. rl`he latter enables the operator of the automobile to throw the latch into engagement with the pedal by the heel of the same foot which he usesin operatingr said pedal. \\'hen the.

pedal 1] is so engaged the tension of the spring f will hohl the `same. in engagement may be substituted in place of the latch n. It is in all respects the equivalent of the latter, but has this additional feature: That instead of having but a single toe as t, it has two toes Iw, wg, so that the pedal d may be held in two different positions, instead of only in one position, as by the use of the latch shown in Fig. 4.

The purpose of providing the slot /c in the Sole of the bracket L is to arrange for the adjustment of the latch u toward and from the pedal d, and thus into properco operative relation therewith. InA this connection it is also to be noted that the devices which control the pedal, exclusive of the support bracket, are arranged in the form of a unit; that is to say, when the nut p of the. bolt, l, is loosened, the latch n and and cap o, being connected by the spring Q, may be moved together both longitudinally and radially in order to bring the latchnto proper cooperative relation with the pedal.

I claim:

l. The combination with a spring-controlled foot lever, of a pivoted latch of V shaped form its members straddling the path of motion of said foot lever, said latch being so arranged as to be operable by the heel of the foot operating said foot lever; and means adapted to normally'hold said Alatch clear of the path of motion of said foot lever.

2. The combination with a foot lever of an automobile, of a fixed support, a bifurcated latch pivoted thereon, the members of said latch straddling the path of motion of said foot lever, one member of such latch being provided with an inwardly projecting lug, the other member being of greater ength and adapted for being operated by the foot operating the foot lever, ay stop limitingr the motion of the latch, and a spring controlling said latch and normally so positioning `tbesame that its members straddle the path of motion ot' the foot lever.

3. The combination with a foot lever of an automobile, of a fixed support, a bifurcated latch pivoted thereon, the members of said latch straddling the path of motion of Said foot lever, one member of such latch being provided with an inwardly projecting lug, the other member being of greater length and provided with a heel-plate whereby the latch is adapted for being op erated by the foot operating the foot lever, a stop limit-ingr the motion of thc latch, and a. spring controlling said latch and normally so positioningr the same that its members" straddle the path of motion of the foot lever.

4. The combination with a foot lever of an automobile, of a fixed support, a bifurc'aterl latch pivoted thereon, the members of said latch straddling the path of motion of Vsaid foot lever,

one member of such latch being provided with an inwardly projecting lug, the other member being of greater length and adapted for being operated bv the foot operating the foot lever. Y

5. The combination with a foot lever of an automobile, of a fixed support, a bifurcated latch pivoted thereon, the members of said latch straddling the )ath ot' motion of said foot lever, one member of such latch being provided with an inwardly projecting lug, the other member being of greater length and adapted for being operated by the foot operating the foot lever, and a .spring controlling said latch and normally so positioning the same that its members straddle the path of motion of the foot level'.

(l. The combination with a foot lever of an automobile, of a fixed support, a bifurcated latch pivoted thereon, the members of said latch straddling the path of' motion of said foot lever, one member of such latch being provided with an inwardly projecting lug, the other member being of greater length and adapted for being operated b v the foot operating the foot lever, a spring controlling said latch and normally so positiouing the same that its members straddle the path of motion of the foot lever, and the latch and controlling spring thereof being adjustable as a unit.

. The combination with a foot lever of.

an automobile, of a fixed support, bolt carried by the latter, a cap secured by the pivot bolt, a spacing element spacing the cap from said Support, a latch rotating about the Spacing element, said latch being of V-shaped form, and its members straddling the path of motion of the foot level', one member of the latch being adapted to be engaged with the foot lever, a stop limiting the rotation of the latch, and a spring operating to hold the latch against said stop whereby its members will be positioned to clear the path of motion of Said foot lever.

8. The combination with a foot lever of an automobile, of a fixed support, a pivot bolt carried by the latter, a cap Secured by the pivot bolt, a spacing element spacing the cap from said support, a latch rotating about the spacing element, said latch being of V-shaped form, and its members Straddling the path of motion of the foot lever, one member ot the latch being adapted to be engaged with the foot lever, a stop limiting the rotation of the latch, and an adinstable spring operating to hold the latch against said stop whereby its members will be positioned to clear the path of motion of said foot lever.

9. The combination with a foot lever of an automobile, of a fixed support, a, pivot bolt carried by the latter, a cap secured by the pivot bolt, a spacingl element spacing und the other to tne cap, operating to hold the, latch against Suid stop whereby its mem- 10 nefs will be positioned to clear the path 0f motion of smid foot lever.

CHARLES YV. MORDEN. tImSees VMI. C. SCHMITT, CECIL LONG. 

